Ferdinand Maximilian was born at Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna on 6 July 1832, the second son of Archduke Franz Karl and Archduchess Sophie of Austria. His elder brother Franz Joseph was heir to the Habsburg crown, and young Max grew up 'full of curiosity, with a romantic and imaginative nature' (Tattersall, 1998). In 1851, at the age of 19, he entered the K.u.k Kriegsmarine with the rank of Lieutenant. He went on to become Commander-in-Chief of the navy, before accepting the throne of Mexico in 1863. This was an ill-fated venture which resulted in his execution by firing squad in 1867.

----, The rise and fall of the empire of Mexico: a short history of Maximilian and Carlotta, with the execution of the former, the madness of the latter; and the fate of the traitor Lopez, Heath & Cordell, Melbourne, 1867, 8p.

---- (translated by Hugh McAden Oechler), Memories of Mexico: a history of the last ten months of the Empire, San Antonio, Trinity University Press, San Antonio, 1973, 253p.

Betts, Benjamin, Mexican imperial coinage; the medals and coins of Augustine I (Iturbide), Maximilian, the French invasion, and of the republic during the French intervention, (Reprinted from The American Journal of Numismatics), J.R. Marvin & Son, Boston, 1899, 48p; S.J. Durst, New York, 1982, 48p.

---- (translated from the original Spanish and edited by Robert Hammond Murray), Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico: Memoirs of his Private Secretary, Jose Luis Blasio, Yale University Press, New Haven, 1934, 235p; 1941, 235p.

Bock, Carl Heinz, The negotiation and breakdown of the Tripartite Convention of London of 31 October 1861; a diplomatic prelude to the establishment of Maximilian in Mexico, with special reference to Great Britain and France, Marburg, 1961, 2 v. , 609p.

Chapman, S., The eagle and Maximilian stamps of Mexico: with a list of the chief post offices in the Republic of Mexico and the subordinate offices reporting to each, and (by kind permission of the proprietors of the Mexican year book), maps of the several states and territories / by S. Chapman; with the co-operation of the Mexican government, the aid of leading stamp collectors in various parts of the world, and the collaboration of W.T. Wilson, Stanley Gibbons, London, 1912, 149p.

Chynoweth, W.Harris, The fall of Maximilian, late emperor of Mexico with an historical introduction, the events immediately preceding his acceptance of the crown, and a particular description of the causes which led to his execution: together with a correct report of the able defence made by his advocates before the court-martial, and their persevering efforts on his behalf at the seat of the republican governmen, W.H. Chynoweth, London, 1872, 277p; 2nd ed., Trübner & Co., London, 1872, 277p.

Frost, John, The history of Mexico and its wars comprising an account of the Aztec empire, the Cortez conquest, the Spaniards' rule, the Mexican revolution, the Texan war, the war with the United States, and the Maximilian invasion; together with an account of Mexican commerce, agriculture, manufactures, exports, imports, duties, mines, cities, railroads, treaties, topography, population, and the social condition of the people, A. Hawkins, New Orleans, 1882, 706p.

Gorman, Herbert Sherman, The Breast of the Dove, Rinehart, New York, 1950, 440p.

Gorsuch, Robert B., The Republic of Mexico and railroads, a brief review of her past history and present conditions. A synopsis of railroad charters granted by the federal government since the fall of the empire under Maximilian and the reestablishment of the republic under Benito Juarez, Hosford & Sons, New York, 1881, 45p.

Hall, Frederic, Life of Maximilian... Late Emperor of Mexico, with a sketch of the Empress Carlota / Invasion of Mexico by the French; and the reign of Maximilian I., with a sketch of the Empress Carlota, James Miller, New York, 1868, 317p.

Johnson, Ada Miriam, 'Three great figures of the French intervention in Mexico as portrayed in the Mexican novel (1863--1867)', MA thesis, University of Arizona, 1942, 96p.

Juarez, Warner Bros. Pictures Inc., Hollywood, 1939, motion picture film, b&w., 123 min. Based on The Phantom Crown by Bertita Harding, and the play Juarez and Maximilian by Franz Werfel. Carlotta is played by Bette Davis, and Juarez by Paul Muni.

---- (translated by G.H. Venables), The rise and fall of the Emperor Maximilian. A narrative of the Mexican Empire, 1861-7. From authentic documents. With the imperial correspondence, S. Low, Son & Marston, London, 1868, 312p.

Roland, Walpole, Under five flags; war and other reminiscences in Turkey (Crimea), Persia, India, China, with the British and Imperial Chinese (Taku and Pekin), and the Union Army (1864-5), thence to Mexico with Maximilian; also sketches of some famous soldiers together with various personal narratives and episodes, including his almost tragic fate in the Manitou gold fields of central Canada, W. Briggs, Toronto, 1912.

Salm-Salm, Felix Constantini Alexander Johann Nepomuk, Prinz zu, My Diary in Mexico in 1867, including the last days of the Emperor Maximilian; with leaves from the diary of Princess Salm-Salm, etc., R. Bently, London, 1868, 2v, 648p.

United States, Department of State, Message from the President of the United States, in answer to a resolution of the House of the 8th July, 1867, relative to the capture and execution of Maximilian and the reported arrest and execution of Santa Ana, in Mexico, 40th Cong., 1st Sess., House Ex. doc. no. 31 United States. Congress. House. (40th, 1st session: 1867). Executive document; no. 31, Washington, 1867, 1p.

United States, War Department, Index of publications, articles and maps relating to Mexico, in the War Department Library, United States War Department Library, 1896, 120p.